[SOLVED] Help needed! Puzzle of the century

Nov 13, 2019
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I have been using PC's for 30 years, building them for 20 and of course, had plenty of things go wrong. Never before have I been so stuck however and I am at a complete loss. I need help bad and I've exhausted literally everything I can think of.

The situation started when I moved my PC across the room to reorganise my furniture. When I did, I started getting hangs when I would play games. The computer screen would freeze, the sound would grind on the last sample it was playing and then the screen would go black, lights on peripherals would go off and the fans in my PC would ramp up. Not even a BSOD - I was only playing Age of Wonders - Planetfall - not exactly the most demanding game I have. It was doing it with every other game I had except low resource requirement games, such as Factorio. The computer will run just find if I am not gaming and just watching youtube or web browsing etc - gaming makes it crash.

I don't remember if it was a windows update or anything that got downloaded at that time just out of coincidence. None the less, I updated drivers, rolled drivers back, etc and the same issue kept cropping up.

Tried SFC /scannow, memtest, HDD test.... everything seemed fine.

I decided to try replacing my graphics card as I was using a AMD Saphire RX 480. I am now using an MSI AMD RX Vega 56 8gb and a brand new case to fit it in as the older one is too small for that GPU. Problem persists. Thinking it could be a problem with the processor or motherboard, I replaced those too. Problem persisted.

I have now replaced every single component of my computer with brand new stuff (current specs below) and when I say everything, I mean everything - Hard drive, PSU, RAM, even the sata cables and power cables. it's a brand new PC. Same problem. Impossible right?

Have also tried replacing the extension leads for my power to surge protectors - same problem.

I very occasionally now get a BSOD which is always THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVE - that's if I get a BSOD at all. Usually the computer will just hang. I've looked up the typical fixes for this error and tried them all. Nothing.

Can anyone help me? I have replaced absolutely all of my hardware. The computer ran fine before this problem happened for over 3 years since I built it. Now with my brand new (and upgraded PC) I am at a loss. Pulling my hair out here. Dreaming of my PC crashing... it's a nightmare. I've tried everything from clean driver installs, rolling back, alternative drivers, BIOS flashing - everything. Temperatures are also well within tolerances.

My PC specs are:

Windows 10
Asus Prime X470-Pro
AMD Ryzen 7 2700x
EVGA 850w PSU
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB
2x Corsair RGB 3200 ghz 8gb RAM
Deepcool Castle liquid cooling system
4TB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive

Previously was:

Windows 10
MSI Tomahawk B350
AMD Ryzen 7 1700 with wraith spire headsink/cpu fan
EVGA 850w PSU (I bought a corsair 850w for the new system but the problem persisted, so I sent that back for a refund, ruling it out)
Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 480 8gb
2x Corsair 8gb vengeance 2100 (ish)
2tb Firecuda Hard drive.
Different sata cables


Thanks in advance if you think you can help. I have never had a problem like this and replacing the entire PC without a resolution has baffled me beyond belief. Hoping someone will solve this quickly and make me look like a fool.
 
Solution
This:

"I did actually see another thread where people are getting the exact same problems with the same card I have - but those are dates to February."

May be that you do have the same card. Some stuff sits in warehouses, floats around on ships, and otherwise may go unused for months. You may have received a refurbished or simply a repackaged card returned by another user.

Are you seeing any errors in Reliability History or Event Veiwer?

Strip your system down to as basic a hardware configuration as possible. If the problem continues then likely a motherboard or PSU problem

If the problem stops with a basic system (using Safe Mode as well) then try another round of component swaps (using known working components).

The...

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Did you change power outlets when you moved the PC across the room? What else is on that circuit? Any interim power strips?

Was the CMOS battery replaced?

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational events.

Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (one at a time) to observe system performance.

Overall, as a general observation, I would suspect the PSU.

The original EVGA 850w PSU failing and the returned Corsair 850 may have been defective.
 
Nov 13, 2019
4
0
10
Did you change power outlets when you moved the PC across the room? What else is on that circuit? Any interim power strips?

Was the CMOS battery replaced?

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational events.

Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (one at a time) to observe system performance.

Overall, as a general observation, I would suspect the PSU.

The original EVGA 850w PSU failing and the returned Corsair 850 may have been defective.

Thanks for the reply! Replacing CMOS battery was actually the first thing I did on the old motherboard and it helped a little but the crashes still happened. I haven't replaced the new CMOS battery.

With regards to the Corsair PSU being faulty, it's entirely possible... But is it likely that 2 completely different PSUs will have exactly the same problem? I could try another but it means spending more money blindly. I could send it back if the problem persists but feel bad for Amazon like I'm abusing their policy for returns.

I did actually see another thread where people are getting the exact same problems with the same card I have - but those are dates to February. Everyone on that thread seemed to think it was a driver problem. That wouldn't explain why my previous GPU had the same problem, though. (Unless there is a universal problem with amd drivers)

I had a theory that the electrics in my apartment have gone screwy, so thought an uninteruptable power supply might help solve the issue.

The power strips have all been replaced. Yes was different sockets in the room when I moved the computer.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
This:

"I did actually see another thread where people are getting the exact same problems with the same card I have - but those are dates to February."

May be that you do have the same card. Some stuff sits in warehouses, floats around on ships, and otherwise may go unused for months. You may have received a refurbished or simply a repackaged card returned by another user.

Are you seeing any errors in Reliability History or Event Veiwer?

Strip your system down to as basic a hardware configuration as possible. If the problem continues then likely a motherboard or PSU problem

If the problem stops with a basic system (using Safe Mode as well) then try another round of component swaps (using known working components).

The problem may reoccur with on given component or particular configuration.

Lots of work but I agree you do not want to spend money blindly without some specific identifiable problem.

All in all, it may come down to a second defective PSU or GPU or some other component.

Unfortunately, QA is becoming a thing of the past. Further comment on that belongs in Opinions & Experiences.
 
Solution
Nov 13, 2019
4
0
10
This:

"I did actually see another thread where people are getting the exact same problems with the same card I have - but those are dates to February."

May be that you do have the same card. Some stuff sits in warehouses, floats around on ships, and otherwise may go unused for months. You may have received a refurbished or simply a repackaged card returned by another user.

Are you seeing any errors in Reliability History or Event Veiwer?

Strip your system down to as basic a hardware configuration as possible. If the problem continues then likely a motherboard or PSU problem

If the problem stops with a basic system (using Safe Mode as well) then try another round of component swaps (using known working components).

The problem may reoccur with on given component or particular configuration.

Lots of work but I agree you do not want to spend money blindly without some specific identifiable problem.

All in all, it may come down to a second defective PSU or GPU or some other component.

Unfortunately, QA is becoming a thing of the past. Further comment on that belongs in Opinions & Experiences.

In the event/reliability viewer I am just seeing the same error as the BSOD. I'm tempted to buy a geforce or something, see if the problem persists and return the card if it does, ruling the GPU put once and for all. I'll keep it if it solves the issue, however.

I could try another PSU and then rule that out if I get the same results again - the likelihood of 3 devices having the same failure in a row seems unlikely to me after all.

At this point I'll try anything. I'm tempted to throw my PC into the Thames and go and live in the forest to be honest - that's how annoying this is.

Scaling back I could try but to be honest as the problem only occurs during gaming I wouldn't be able to scale much without being able to run a game.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Go back a bit:

Reference Post #2.

"Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (one at a time) to observe system performance."

Observe your system while idling, while doing light work/tasks, while online browsing, and lastly while gaming.

Or some other methodical pattern that fits the situation as you see it.

Once you can create/duplicate the BSOD's at will then you will likely know the cause.

Leave the observation window open but dragged to one side. Pay close attention while gaming.

Remember you are playing to observe and test. Not to win per se.
 
Nov 13, 2019
4
0
10
Go back a bit:

Reference Post #2.

"Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (one at a time) to observe system performance."

Observe your system while idling, while doing light work/tasks, while online browsing, and lastly while gaming.

Or some other methodical pattern that fits the situation as you see it.

Once you can create/duplicate the BSOD's at will then you will likely know the cause.

Leave the observation window open but dragged to one side. Pay close attention while gaming.

Remember you are playing to observe and test. Not to win per se.

Ok I'll give that a go. Currently been trying to play RDR2 so I'm just happy when I can play for over an hour at this point. Thanks